However obvious NASA'S bold statement may seem, it's one the
agency is proud to make: This is the first time in over 45 years
that the US — as well as humankind — has a chance to visit
another world beyond Earth.

Could it be that NASA will once again write history by sending
the first humans to walk on the surface of Mars? Their plans
certainly aim to do so.

A long road

NASA

Since the final three Apollo missions were canceled in 1970, NASA
has missed the unparalleled governement funding it received
throughout the '60s — funding to design the technology that could
land the first human on the moon.

To get the Apollo astronauts off the ground, the US federal
government was pouring between
4% and 4.5% of its total budget into NASA. But by 1970,
public interest was waning and the federal government was turning
their sights from space and back to Earth.

By the time the last Apollo mission
to the moon was complete, NASA's funding had dropped from 4.5% to
just above 1%. And by the turn of the century, that number was
quickly dropping to less than 0.5%.

So, to get the tools, technologies, and wherewithal to finally
say that they are closer to sending humans to Mars than ever
before is more of a testament to NASA's progress over the years
than an obvious statement.

Journey to Mars

"The journey to Mars passes through three thresholds, each with
increasing challenges as humans move farther from Earth," NASA
state in their report.

These thresholds are:

1) Earth reliant: This involves scientific
investigations currently being performed on board the
International Space Station that examine the impacts of space on
human health and plant and animal growth. It also includes
testing technologies like 3D printing, extra-vehicular activities
(EVA), and what they call in-situ resource utilization (ISRU).

ISRU is NASA's push to learn how to utilize resources on
exploration sites like the moon, asteroids, and Mars. Their Mars
2020 rover will be equipped with one of these new technologies —
a machine that can turn the carbon dioxide in Mars' atmosphere
into oxygen.

2) Proving ground: In the near future, humans
will begin traveling beyond low-Earth orbit and the ISS to
explore deeper regions of space. By the 2020s, NASA hopes to have
brought a small asteroid into orbit around the moon through their
Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) where astronauts will visit the
asteroid and collect samples for scientific analysis.

Missions like these will test the latest spacecraft and
technologies that NASA is building right now, including their
Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, designed
for a crew of up to four and for deep-space missions like ARM and
Mars landings.

3) Earth independent: After that, it's onto
Mars. Colonies on Mars will need to be fairly independent because
it takes at least six months to get from Earth to the Red Planet.
These first colonies on Mars will test how well humans can
utilize the Red Planet's resources.